WITS - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Remembering South Africa’s “Grand Geek” Barry Dwolatzky – engineer and programming pioneer

TO some of his former students, Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the “Grand Geek” – a name of which he was very proud. But Barry, who passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on 16 May 2023, was much more than a computer geek. He was also a leader and a visionary in the field of software engineering in South Africa. Author ESTELLE TRENGOVE, Associate Professor in electrical engineering, University of the Witwatersrand At the time of his passing, he was 71 years old. He was by then retired from academia and held the title of Emeritus Professor at the University of…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

In 1986 Wits University did a survey about its relevance to South Africa: another is needed

EDUCATION

AS the number of black students increased at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa in the 1980s, township struggles spread onto the campus and management came under increasing grassroots pressure to implement change within the university. In response, social scientists in the Faculty of Humanities, with the financial support of the university’s research office, undertook an extensive survey of perceptions of Wits. It included organisations in black communities as well as of international academics, students and staff at Wits. They even had a meeting with the then-banned African National Congress (ANC) in Lusaka. Authors EDWARD WEBSTER, Distinguished…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Protests by SA varsity students spreads

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE South African government and tertiary institutions are battling waves of student protests, over the financial exclusion of those who cannot afford fees. Over 24 students were arrested yesterday as protests that started in Johannesburg, spread to Pretoria, Free State and Cape Town. The South African police have been heavily criticised for their heavy-handedness after a bystander was shot dead after he was caught in the middle of rubber bullets fired on protesting students. SA President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday offered his condolences to the family of Mthokozisi Ntumba, a father of three and civil servant, who was…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Painstaking study of ‘Little Foot’ fossil sheds light on human origins

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WILL DUNHAM SOPHISTICATED scanning technology is revealing intriguing secrets about Little Foot, the remarkable fossil of an early human forerunner that inhabited South Africa 3.67 million years ago during a critical juncture in our evolutionary history. Scientists yesterday disclosed that they examined key parts of the nearly complete and well-preserved fossil at Britain's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source. The scanning focused upon Little Foot's cranial vault - the upper part of her braincase - and her lower jaw, or mandible. The researchers gained insight not only into the biology of Little Foot's species but also into the hardships that…